Sven

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Contents

Background

Together, the duo run an ice harvesting business (which has greatly enhanced Sven's overall strength, making him quite the force) and reside outside the city of Arendelle in the Valley of the Living Rock, where a community of trolls thrive. The trolls adopted both Kristoff and Sven when they were children, and raised them as their own. Following the events of the original film, Sven evidently resides in the stables of Arendelle Castle.

Though Sven cannot speak, Kristoff has come to fully understand the reindeer merely through the latter's actions and expressions, even going as far as to voice Sven's thoughts aloud (to a surprisingly accurate degree) so that they may have conversations. As seen in Olaf's Frozen Adventure, however, Kristoff's understanding of Sven is not guarantee, specifically when the former is too preoccupied to pay Sven much attention.

Official Description

A reindeer with the heart of a Labrador, Sven is Kristoff's loyal friend, sleigh-puller, and conscience. He makes sure his mountain-man companion is the stand-up guy Sven knows and loves, and does so without saying a word. A few emphatic snorts usually get his point across. Life would be perfect if only Kristoff would lose that ridiculous reindeer voice he likes to use when speaking for Sven (as if reindeer really talk that way).

Personality

In spite of being a reindeer, Sven has the personality and heart of a dog, namely a Labrador. As such, he serves as a loyal and playful companion to Kristoff. To the mountain man, Sven doubles as a supportive best friend and conscience, often advising Kristoff to do the right thing whenever the latter acts selfishly or refuse to follow his heart. To talk Kristoff into doing the right thing, Sven's usual method is a dramatic look of pity ("the puppy dog face"). When Kristoff's stubbornness gets the better of him, however, Sven can be rather stern and no-nonsense, and will defiantly stand his ground until Kristoff comes to his senses. This can sometimes cause a bit of tension between Sven and Kristoff, but their loving bond continues to prevail, as does Sven's advisement.

While far from dim-witted, Sven is rather clumsy at times, and can be easily distracted by simple things, such as frozen vines and snowflakes. This often leads to minor mishaps, such as getting his antlers tangled or getting his tongue stuck on Elsa's icy staircase. With a childlike outlook on life, he makes a perfect companion to Olaf the snowman. This side of Sven's personality also allows a close kinship with Anna, who he immediately takes a shine to, foreshadowing Kristoff's eventual affection for her. Because of Sven's childlike innocence and spirit, Kristoff sometimes acts along the lines of a protective parent; he will not abide to anyone giving Sven orders or commands (aside from himself), and was visibly upset when Olaf seemingly talked down to the reindeer with "baby talk".

However, as mentioned above, Sven can be serious when he needs to be, and is quite the hero in his own right. During the climax of Frozen, he rushed into Elsa's blinding whiteout fearlessly, and battled powerful winds, freezing temperatures and the hazards of crumbling ice, among other life-threatening obstacles—all without hesitation. He is also easily annoyed by incompetence, as seen in Olaf's Frozen Adventure, where foolish comments made by Olaf and Kristoff earned a disapproving look from an unamused Sven.

Appearances

As youngsters, Kristoff and Sven spent their time with the ice harvesters, learning the ways of the profession and tagging along whenever they can. One night, Kristoff and Sven notice the royal family (the king, queen, Princess Elsa, and Princess Anna), rushing over to the Valley of the Living Rock. Curious, the boy and reindeer follow behind to watch what all the commotion is about. As they spied, they're discovered by one of the trolls, Bulda, who decides to adopt the two orphans. From there, Kristoff and Sven are raised by the trolls. Years later, Princess Elsa is set to become queen after the death of the original monarchs, and whilst the kingdom is abuzz with royals from all around, Kristoff and Sven are out and about, too, but do not attend the castle festivities, likely because it's meant for royalty only.

Sven and Kristoff's lullaby duet.

Later that night, Queen Elsa was revealed to have great power over ice and snow, and as she flees her kingdom in order to protect her subjects. She accidentally places a curse upon the kingdom, causing an eternal winter. The next night, Kristoff was busy buying equipment for his travels, as well as carrots for Sven, from Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, but gets kicked out for calling the store owner a crook, much to Sven's disappointment. They decide to sleep in a stable for the night, where they sing their lullaby "duet". Suddenly, Princess Anna pays them a visit and asks Kristoff to guide her to the North Mountain to find her sister. Kristoff refuses until Anna shows that she has purchased the equipment and carrots he failed to buy. Sven is more than happy to help at that point, and the trio head off. After facing a wolf attack, however, Kristoff wants to call it quits, but Sven does not want to leave Anna out alone, knowing she'll die, and persuades Kristoff to continue forth.

Sven and the others meet Olaf.

Later on, they meet an enchanted snowman, brought to life by Elsa, named Olaf, who offers to guide them to her ice palace. Sven immediately takes a liking to Olaf's carrot nose, which he tries to eat a few times, with no success. Soon enough, the friends find Elsa's palace, but he's unable to make it up the ice stairs. Kristoff tells Sven to wait outside, and when the others return, they are being chased by a giant snowman monster. Kristoff, Olaf, and Anna head off, and Sven goes in a different direction, meeting up with the gang at the bottom of a mountain cliff. At that time, Kristoff comes to realize that Anna's been cursed when Elsa accidentally blasted her heart with ice back at the castle, and he leads the way to the Valley of the Living Rock. Grand Pabbie, the king of the trolls, tells the group that unless Anna performs an act of true love, she'll freeze to death.

Sven urging Kristoff to return to Anna.

Riding on Sven, the group rush back to Arendelle so that Anna can receive a "true love's kiss" from her fiancé, Hans. There, Anna is taken into royal care, leaving Kristoff to reluctantly take his leave, believing his usefulness has expired now that Anna is with her "true love". Sadly, the mountain man heads back into the mountains with Sven trudging along, only to eventually halt in his tracks, look back at the kingdom, and realize that leaving Anna without Kristoff confessing his true feelings is not right. The reindeer rushes in front of the ice harvester, stands his ground, and tries to convince him to head back. Kristoff angrily denies, telling Sven going back would be pointless as Anna's with her true love. Sven can only repeatedly go against this, just as a gust of frosty wind hits the duo. Looking back at the castle, they see the kingdom being consumed by a potentially deadly blizzard. Knowing Anna must be in danger, Sven and Kristoff rush back to Arendelle to her rescue.

Sven telling Kristoff to move on during Elsa's blizzard.

Rushing back to the castle, the blizzard becomes much more powerful, though it only prompts Sven to increase his speed, as the reindeer is highly devoted to getting Kristoff to his true love. From the castle library, Olaf and Anna are able to spot Kristoff and Sven rushing to them in the distance, having the duo head out into the frozen fjords to meet them. During the chaos, Olaf is separated from the princess, and likewise, a ship causes the icy ground beneath Sven to crack, unleashing freezing waters. Sven tries to avoid them, but only manages to get Kristoff to safety before falling head-first into the freezing waters, apparently drowning, much to Kristoff's horror. However, Sven luckily survives and pulls himself onto a drifting iceberg, telling Kristoff to keep moving without him, which the latter obliges to.

Sven beside Kristoff's new sled.

When he reunites with the others, he finds Kristoff, Olaf and Elsa mourning over the death of Anna, whose body has been consumed by the curse. As Sven joined in the mourning, Anna's body begins to thaw, as she managed to perform an act of true love before the curse completely took effect: sacrificing herself to save Elsa from the treacherous Hans. It's at that point Elsa realizes love is the key to thawing the kingdom, and with the warmth in her heart, she does just that, with Sven licking at the snowflakes appearing during the spectacle, hungry for a bite. With the kingdom thawed and restored to natural peace, Elsa reclaims the throne as queen. Kristoff is appointed "Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliver", whilst Sven is given a Medal of Honor from the Snow Queen in gratitude for his heroic deeds. Anna, meanwhile, proclaims her mutual love for Kristoff, and presents him with a brand new sled, with Sven's help. Meanwhile, Olaf is given a snow flurry to enjoy the summer weather. After taking a whiff, the snowman sneezes, and his carrot nose lands directly in Sven's mouth, who gobbles it up. However, this was merely a jest, as Sven quickly returns the carrot, revealing he was merely being playful, much to the snowman's delight. Sven is last seen with the others in an ice-skating rink built by Elsa, for the kingdom's enjoyment.

In Frozen Fever, Sven is assisting Kristoff, Olaf, and Elsa in making the final preparations for Anna's birthday. On the day of the event, Elsa leaves Kristoff in charge of the castle's courtyard during her absence. During a nap, Sven, Kristoff and Olaf are encountered by tiny snow-babies known as Snowgies, mischievous toddlers bent on eating Anna's birthday cake. As Kristoff and Olaf scatter to collect them, a playful Sven follows suit, immediately taken by the adorable creatures. Before long, however, their trouble gets out of hand, and during the chase, Sven's tongue gets stuck onto an enormous ice sculpture. After struggling to do so, Sven manages to free himself, but the now massive army of Snowgies continue to run amok. By the time Anna and Elsa arrive, however, the courtyard is in one piece. Sven, Kristoff, Olaf and the Snowgies create a spectacular formation, and this earns a delightfully surprised gasp from the birthday princess. With the party a success, Sven distributes the cake and the day comes to an end.

Some time later, Sven joins Kristoff and Olaf in delivering the Snowgies to live with Marshmallow, up on the North Mountain in Elsa's Ice Palace.

When the holidays arrive in Arendelle, Anna and Elsa open the castle gates to "ring in the season". Sven and Kristoff are in charge of presenting and ringing the Yule bell, and once they do, the kingdom-wide festivities officially begin. Unfortunately, none of Arendelle's populace stay to partake in Anna and Elsa's Christmas party, as they have their own family traditions to engage in at their homes. Kristoff tries to lift the sisters' spirits by presenting a tradition that he and Sven share with the trolls, in which they honor a fallen fungus troll known as Flemmy. Later on, Olaf bursts into the royal stables to enlist Sven on helping him save Anna and Elsa's Christmas by finding a tradition for them. Sven enthusiastically agrees, and the two set out on Kristoff's sleigh to visit Arendelle's populace to gather research and information.

While journeying back to the castle, Olaf's negligence causes the sleigh to run loose toward the cliff of a mountain, dragging both him and Sven along with it. The two narrowly survive, but the research gathered in the form of holiday-related keepsakes are taken down the cliff and are destroyed, along with Kristoff's sleigh. Sven and Olaf are separated, leaving Olaf to take a "shortcut" through the woods, which happens to be wolf territory. Sven hurries back to Arendelle to warn Kristoff, but the mountain man is too distracted by his "Flemmy stew" to comprehend the danger. Anna and Elsa, however, catch on immediately. Sven leads a search party into the woods to find Olaf, and manages to sniff him out. Though initially downhearted because of his failure, Olaf comes to learn that he is the tradition that Anna and Elsa share.

Other appearances

Along with Olaf, Sven appeared in an animated short that played in theaters as Frozen's first teaser trailer. In the short, Sven and Olaf compete for the latter's carrot nose. Though Sven ends the day victorious, it's revealed that he was only trying to help Olaf retrieve the carrot after losing it. The two set aside their supposed differences and become friends, much to Sven's delight.

Sven also makes a small appearance alongside Anna, Elsa, and Olaf in an advertisement promoting Sky Movies.

An emoticon version of Sven appeared in the Frozen and Frozen Fever entries of the As Told by Emoji short series.

In LEGO Frozen Northern Lights, Sven accompanies Kristoff, Anna, Elsa and Olaf on a quest to find the northern lights. In this parody version of the Frozen world, there are some instances where it appears that Sven is actually speaking (being voiced by Jonathan Groff in Kristoff's "reindeer voice"), while others show Sven mouthing the dialogue Kristoff provides for him in perfect sync.

Live-action appearances

Sven plays a small role in the fourth season of the ABC series, appearing in the episode "A Tale of Two Sisters". After Anna embarks on a journey against Elsa's wishes, Kristoff and Sven are left to distract the Queen of Arendelle to prevent her from pulling her younger sister back. Elsa soon arrives and confronts Kristoff and Sven on Anna's whereabouts. Throughout the scene, a sassy Sven responds to the banter between Kristoff and the Queen through snorts. After Elsa gathers the truth and rushes out to the docks to stop Anna, Sven urges Kristoff to go after her, which the mountain man does. After he leaves the barn, Sven sighs out of annoyance. Notably, according to Kristoff, Sven finds an uptight Elsa to be bossy. It was also mentioned that Sven would be formally attending the wedding of Anna and Kristoff, who were recently engaged.

Sven was then seen alongside Kristoff when they hiking up the Southern Mountain to intercept Hans and his invading army head for Arendelle. Kristoff orders Sven to stay put while he spies on the evil prince and his brothers.

Prior to Anna returning from her trip in the Enchanted Forest, Sven feels moody and uninterested in eating his carrots, even Kristoff offered him some. When an exasperated Kristoff commented out loud what's wrong with him, Anna appears in the stable's doorway, having returned from her trip thanks to her temporary controlling Rumpelstiltskin with his dagger, and suggest that Sven probably missed her.

Sven was one of the latest additions to the popular app, Frozen Free Fall as a character companion. He is unlocked upon reaching level 92 and has the special ability of Carrot, which destroys a total of nine random block tiles.

Other games

Sven made appearances alongside Olaf in a few special, mini-game levels of Frozen: Olaf's Quest, following the hapless snowman through the map.

Costumes of Sven have also featured in both the "Frozen Party" episode of Club Penguin, as well as the "Frozen Costume Pack" of LittleBigPlanet.

Andrew Pirozzi as Sven with Jelani Alladin as Kristoff in the Frozen musical.

For the stage adaptation of Frozen, Sven no longer has the broad, cartoony design of the animated film, instead appearing as a realistic reindeer. He is brought to the stage through a unique form of puppetry; still portrayed as a quadruped, actor Andrew Pirozzi dons prosthetics that completely covers his body to give off the illusion of a real reindeer.

Like the animated counterpart, Sven does not speak, though he and Kristoff do engage in conversation via Kristoff's voice overs (slightly more so than they do in the movie). After Elsa's curse overtakes Arendelle, Sven—according to Kristoff—is frustrated by the sudden change of climate, and more so the fact that no one will provide shelter for him and Kristoff because of a strict "no reindeer" policy. To cheer Sven up, Kristoff performs "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People", before suddenly coming into contact with Anna in the midst of her journey to find Elsa. Sven believes Anna will die on her own, and suggests that the more equipped and experienced Kristoff assist her, to which Kristoff agrees for the sake of his ice business. During "What Do You Know About Love?", Kristoff and Anna call each other out for their personal shortcomings; one of which, for Kristoff, being the fact that his only friend is a deer.

An audio-animatronic of Sven appears in Frozen Ever After in Epcot. He is first seen greeting guests alongside Olaf during the ride's first scene and can be spotted later during Anna and Kristoff's duet, seen with his tongue stuck to an ice fixture.

Trivia

The Frozen filmmakers invited a real reindeer into the Walt Disney Animation Studios, observing the animal's physical makeup and mannerism, which were later caricatured in the design of Sven.

Whilst the filmmakers have noted Sven's behavior being based off that of a dog (or a Labrador to be more precise), real reindeer actually do pant much like canines. Real reindeer also scratch the back of their ears with their legs, much like dogs, and that was also incorporated into Sven's character.

For an animal that is not a horse, Sven is an incredibly fast reindeer (even as a calf), which is actually a big reference to his species, as reindeer are fast enough for Eskimos and many other cultures to use them in sled races in the Northern hemisphere.

Sven has the antlers of a female reindeer.

Sven's antlers appear to be sturdy enough to support Kristoff's weight.

As Olaf symbolizes Anna and Elsa's bond, Sven symbolizes the bond between Anna and Kristoff.

Well adapted to snow and cold, reindeer can lower the temperature in their legs to near freezing levels, to keep their core body heat consistent in extreme weather. They are also surprisingly fast; a new reindeer calf can easily outrun a man, which explains why Kristoff relies on Sven when he needs to get to Anna quickly.